Monday, November 22, 2010

Well, I finally broke down and joined Facebook so I could view the photos from my 40 year class reunion (which I didn't attend).

Holy COW!!! 40 Years!

But I digress...... I had put off joining Facebook because I have watched it consume the lives of some people I love, and I didn't want to go down that road. I figured I was doing just fine without it.

Now that I have finally joined I'm amazed by the number of people who have sent me "friend requests", in some cases friends I haven't seen or talked to in years. I get to peer into their thoughts and little snippets of their lives. In a way it made me feel like a voyer at first, but then I rationalized that they WANT people to know these little detail, so I talked myself into not worrying. I don't, however, feel that everyone on the planet is interested in my little snippets of thoughts, so while I make comments once in a while I never have (and probably never will) just "made a post". We'll see....after all - I didn't think I'd ever be on Facebook to begin with!

I find that young people post more, and their posts are just little comments on their day. I've learned that teenagers haven't learned to "edit their thoughts" yet. And I've learned that some of the most reticent folks I know aren't reticent at all when they aren't dealing face-to-face. I have one friend who puts a "quote" every day, and some of them have made me laugh out loud.....for instance when she wrote "I know the voices in my head aren't real, but sometimes they have good ideas" I simply cracked up..........maybe because sometimes the voices in MY head have good ideas too!

I have one friend (I almost consider him my child) who has taken up photography as a hobby and he routinely posts some of the most amazing photos I have ever had the privilege to see. They are truly stunning! You can check them out at wannabephotographer.blogspot.com . It will be worth you time!

Then there's our nephew, who has a son that we haven't had the opportunity to see in person, but the photos they post of him make me giggle. He seems to be the happiest little guy on the planet! I plan to make certain we get to see him for the holidays.

I have found friends who I used to work with, friends who have moved away, and family I didn't know I had.

So thank you Facebook, for letting me do it my own way, for letting me peer into little snippets of peoples lives, and for helping me find some good friends that I had misplaced.